A Stunning Country

I have been extremely fortunate to be asked to work in some amazing locations around the world. These are places I thought I’d never see, let alone get to work in for a prolonged period of time. So when I was invited to join BAS again I was thrilled, especially as this time they were sending me north – to Iceland!

I was stationed in Iceland for one month in the summer of 2019 to study two species of guillemots, more on this in a later blog, but the travelling required between study sites meant that I was able to see a lot of the country along the way; and what a country it is!

Driving around Iceland is near impossible without getting distracted by the scenery

Unfortunately no photo can do justice to the stunning scenery on offer (when I’m pointing the camera at least!) but nevertheless the views were stunning. On my first night we camped next to a glacial lagoon, just to get the feeling of polar work in early.

Arriving at the campsite on the first night in Iceland to this view - incredible!

Waking up to it isn't bad either!

The wildlife enjoys the area as well.

Iceland is a large country with a small population – just 300,000 residents compared with 3,000,000 tourists each year! – so towns and even farm houses are often spread quite far apart. Driving between them to get from one study site to another entailed lots of great views.

The views are hard to pass without taking a few photos.

Sometimes the route cuts through the landscape in very windy ways, making the view impressive and the driving interesting.

Besides the “standard” roadside hill and mountain views Iceland is rich in different landscapes. A land created by volcanoes and glaciers can’t be anything but spectacular and I was unable to draw myself away from the spectacle for a moment.

Ancient craters now grown over with vegetation.

Glacial valleys carved out so long ago are now home to woodlands and lakes.

Sandy beaches are always pleasant and black sand makes quite a change.

Whilst Iceland is very much still active in terms of planetary processes, more on that in the next blog, areas that have been active in the past but are now dormant provide some of the most interesting landscapes I have ever seen.

The lakes of Myvatn are in an area surrounded by craters.

The crater of Hverfjall towers over the Myvatn area and takes around 2 hours to walk around.

The ancient lava field of Dimmuborgum is now covered in vegetation with volcanic rock protruding out.

The fissure that is created by the slow pulling apart of the North American and European tectonic plates has created ridgelines of rock steeped in local history.

What Iceland also has in abundance is little hidden gems, areas that would be of great interest in most places but are often overlooked for the grander scenes.

The coastline at Langanes is ideal for seabirds but compared to others around Iceland isn't as well visited.

As an island Iceland is subject to tides dumping debris from the oceans quite a lot, but I was not expecting so much driftwood in a single bay!

Underground pools full of warm, or sometimes very hot, water can be found and used to be used for bathing by locals.

Picturesque streams and rivers are everywhere, linking waterfalls and lakes to the ocean.

Iceland would be worth a visit for the scenery alone, but that is just the beginning. The country is full of active Earth processes, plus an incredible amount of wildlife for a – geologically and biologically speaking – new island so that it is one of the most interesting places to see.